


Canary Bay

by Mauisse_Flowers



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: (I killed every dude but Clint & Pietro), Bechdel Test Pass, F/M, Gen, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, So Passed That Misogynists Cried, Sorry Not Sorry, That One Story Where Everyone Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 20:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3992569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mauisse_Flowers/pseuds/Mauisse_Flowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To be frank, it's how the Marvel Ladies get to kick ass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Canary Bay

**Author's Note:**

> So, this came from a photo set I found on tumblr. It kinda went from post-apocalypse to "DOWN WITH HYDRA."
> 
> http://dreamers-writing-rambles.tumblr.com/post/119407962528/lucid-dreamer-dreams-usedkarma-canary-bay-a
> 
> Prompt: The men of the Avengers made the world go to hell and the women were silenced. Natasha and Pepper assembled their friends, sisters, warriors and geniuses on a secret island, the Canary Bay. There, they started to rebuild the world. Training young women minds and skills, they were trying to never listen to the men’s folly for a better future. But one day, a threat is upon them. What will happen?

For Natasha and Pepper, it had been a long time coming, they just had become too lulled by the words of their friends and lovers to really see. Jane had refused to look beyond, even after Thor returned to Asgard and never came back, Heimdall never opening the Bifrost for her like he had once promised. After Bruce went AWOL after Ultron's attack, Tony brought Betty in, if only to have her help around. Maria, as always, continued to clean up messes to the point she was blinded and talked Sharon into joining ranks again. Wanda, with hard earned trust, looked to Clint as a surrogate father and Natasha a sister, busy training. It was Darcy who saw the signs, the poli-sci major who got her six credits, graduated, and stayed as an unpaid intern-turned-best friend-and-scientist-wrangler, but no one listened, everyone brushed her aside, even Jane who knew to never take what Darcy had to say lightly.

It all started downhill when Sif crash landed, literally, into the new Avengers Base. She was wounded and holding Heimdall's bloodstained sword, her long black hair singed, armor splattered and banged up. She took one look at Jane and Darcy before falling unconscious, not waking up for the next two weeks as Dr. Cho fixed her wounds and she rested in bed.

Steve died nearly two days later while trying to protect Bucky who was breaking down his own Hydra brainwashing, Tony feeling he was the cause and guilt ridden, locking himself away in the labs to the point even Jane and Erik were weary to approach for work. Bucky took up the shield, upholding all of Steve's ideas, and everyone found he was a pretty good guy under all of the pain and sadness he'd accumulated over seventy years. Sam and him got to know one another, and continued taking down Hydra.

Once again, Darcy's observations were ignored, and when shit finally hit the fan the day Sif woke up, the former intern wasn't surprised.

Sif didn't wake up slowly, she woke up with a full body jolt, nearly causing Darcy– who had been coming every day at four to read to the unconscious Asgardian– to spill her coffee in shock. When Sif went into attack mode, ripping out needles and fighting to get out of the bed, Darcy didn't stop her, instead moving quickly into the furthest corner, letting the actual doctors try and stop her. Sif didn't calm until she realized Darcy was there, sagging in relief.

"Where is Hǫfuð?" She asked Darcy, and Darcy turned to Dr. Cho. "Where is Heimdall's sword, Lady Darcy?"

"Where did you put the sword?"

"I don't know where it is. I have to ask Director Coulson."

Darcy scoffed. "Like he's going to tell us?" She reached for Sif's hand, pulling her along. The warrior was fully healed by that point, though somewhat shaky from only being given fluids. "We're going to find it."

"Miss Lewis–" A nurse tried to intercept, stopped by Betty.

"What's going on?" Darcy asked Sif, sticking very close in case she couldn't stay standing. "No Thor in a year, not even a message, Heimdall isn't listening, and you fall out of the sky bloody and with the dude's sword."

"I had best tell you after Lady Jane is with us."

Darcy could do that.

\---

It took some bullying and hacking, but Darcy found the sword. She then had Wanda help her get it. It was ten tons lighter than it looked, Darcy found. Sif stated she had been barely able to carry the sword, which surprised Darcy who only got a happy grin back from the sullen goddess.

Then Darcy dragged Jane out of Science! Mode with Sif's name and the four (with Wanda now that she was in the know) sat in Jane's and Darcy's shared apartment where Sif explained, cutting out the typical extravagance and how-do of battle, what had happened. Jane burst into tears when Sif explained Thor had died in battle against Loki, both dying in the process. How Asgard and nearly all Nine Realms were gone, destroyed by Loki's insanity and thirst for bloody revenge.

"Heimdall has been dead since the battle began, cut down by an invisible spy." She went on once Jane had calmed down considerably. "I found Hǫfuð in Queen Frigga's locked chambers, and I ran with it. If any one got hold of it, what remains of the World Tree, and Midgard, could be obliterated." She lifted the sword with a grunt, holding it to Darcy lengthwise. "Much like Mjolnir, only those who are worthy and of the Sight can lift Hǫfuð. Those who are unworthy can also lift it, but only if with good of heart for it, though it weighs much."

"Like protecting the World Tree by removing the sword from Asgard." Wanda nodded, understanding clear. "You don't have the qualifications to use it, but you can move it."

"Yes." Sif nodded, urging Darcy to take it. "Please, Lady Darcy, you have lifted it without trouble, and though weak your intuition is your Sight untrained. You are worthy."

Jane elbowed Darcy hard, and Darcy took the sword with a slight jump and weak glare at her friend. "I can't even pronounce its name, how am I suppose to even use it?"

"It should come naturally. The sword knows what it wants."

"Oh my god. That sounded so Tim Burton." Darcy laughed nervously, staring at the sword that had, apparently, found her worthy.

"We must also find Mjolnir." Sif stood, swaying slightly. Her hands clenched, and she straightened a little. "Lady Jane, Lady Darcy, I ask that you come with me. When I find the hammer, it will not move, but the journey will be long and I will be in need of help."

"My country goes where Jane does." Darcy shrugged.

Jane seemed unsure, but she thought of what Thor would have done, and how sickly Sif still looked despite being healed. She remembered what Sif looked like two weeks ago, battered and near death, of the sword now in Darcy's hand, and her resolve steeled itself. She stood, holding out her hand to Sif.

"I would be honored to join you, Sif."

* * *

When Jane was little, she had always watched the stars with abstract fascination. Her parents had a cabin up in the mountains, and during the summer and Winter Break, they drove up there. Erik visited then, always getting time off from his job at the University.

As a child, Jane had mapped the stars in her cabin getaway with the fervor of a starved painter, or at least that's what Erik and her dad always said. Her mother wasn't overly fond of her love of the stars, and had always wanted Jane to be a doctor, only wanting the best for her only child.

For a while, Jane thought she would become a doctor in a hospital, but then she caught wind of the idea of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, renewing her love of the stars that had never really died, just been buried under her mother's hope for the best. Jane had started asking Erik questions again, asking more and more, writing down her ten, twenty, thirty, sixty, one-hundred questions that she had for him, sometimes answering them herself.

Her math excelled, not to Einstein levels, but still up there. She could do numbers in her head, semi-big numbers, ones that Erik couldn't believe, ones her mother thought had to do more with saving lives and less with the distance of stars from earth. Her father had died of cancer when she was ten, so he wasn't there to make assumptions.

Jane researched and worked and _learned_ , even as everyone called her crazy and her mother found that yes, Jane was becoming a doctor, but of the stars, not saving lives (which would later become a side job). Erik worked with her, and people called him cracked for listening to the daughter of a dead college friend, of a man who'd been just as crazy about the stars and myth and magic Jane had refused to disprove out of love.

Then she was off in the desert, where the sky was as clear as her fallen mountain cabin, though hotter and less filled with wood. Only one person applied to her unpaid internship, a twenty-one year-old poli-sci major named Darcy Marie Lewis. She needed only six college credits to graduate and Jane was more than willing to sign off soon as she walked through the door with sunshiny sarcasm and a taser, coffee for days and a meatloaf able to turn a vegan.

In short, Jane adored Darcy and ended up signing off on the credits just so she could talk Darcy back into staying. Which, after Thor landed and both signed a million and one NDAs, it was pretty much expected. And Darcy did stay, her words on the matter being, "Where Jane goes, so does my country."

Jane had never had a more loyal friend who she was proud to call a sister.

Even when busy being asked to go to seminar after seminar after seminar, Jane never forgot where she came from. The small backyard and pretty mountain cabin, the stars shining bright from a golden world thousand of light years away, the dad who told her the myth of Orion, and the mother who wanted her to be a doctor. Jane never forgot the god she loved after three days, her fierce love of the world above as everyone but two people called her crazy, and the moment she was told, after years of being called insane, that she was right.

When she heard the words, "Thor is dead," she almost forgot where she was, but not where she'd come from, not like when he hadn't revealed himself for two years. Jane also, unlike back then, knew where she was going as Sif took her hand.

"I would be honored to join you, Sif."

If she was a lesser woman, she would have wanted revenge. Instead, she just needed to make sure what remained of her boyfriend stayed safe.

* * *

Wanda enjoyed training her powers, she liked visiting her brother's grave, and loved going with Clint to visit Laura, the children, and the farm. Lucky, the family's dog, was always happy to see her, though that might have been because she fed him pizza when no one looked.

It had been a month since Darcy, Jane, and Sif left to find Thor's hammer. They had checked in every Saturday so far, just a simple postcard mailed from wherever they had been. Wanda expected the cards to start taking longer the farther away they got, and so did the rest of the Avengers.

Saturday evening, Wanda sat on the porch, Lucky keeping her chilly feet warm, Nathaniel bouncing in her lap, the little boy a giggling mess as she tickled his sensitive sides. His eyes were dark like Laura's, hair light like Clint's, but unlike them he had an affinity for magic. Or hers, at least. Lila and Cooper liked it, but it absolutely mesmerized the littlest one. Maybe due to age naïvety, even if Clint and Laura said babies were the best judges of character.

A thunderstorm went on past them, lightening crackling every few minutes, telling the closeness of the storm. Five minutes.

Soon, the vegetable gardens, cow, chickens, and wheat would be watered. Wanda imagined she'd give Nathaniel over to Cooper and go sit in the rain under the oak tree she'd requested Pietro be placed under once she saw the large land. As a child, he had loved to climb trees. The bigger, the better. Wanda had liked the rain, especially when it thundered.

When the thunder boomed and the lightening struck, a figure illuminated in the distance. They stumbled, and fell. Wanda stood in shock, almost dropping baby Nathaniel who let out a yelp. Lucky stood as well, growling, eyes trained out into the field, tensed.

"Barton!" Wanda called, never turning her eyes away.

Rain began to fall in sheets. Another crack and flash, this time in sync. Clint came out onto the porch, cup of coffee in hand, scratching the back of his neck. Nathaniel began to cry as Lucky let out a bark, something that startled the Avenger who was currently in Father Mode.

"Lucky, what's wrong?" He looked out over the land, eyes narrowing as Wanda rocked Nathaniel.

"Someone is here." Wanda said, pointing out in the general direction of the figure. "I do not know who. I cannot hear their thoughts."

"Take Nate and Lucky in." Clint replied, walking over to the porch swing. He reached under, grabbing the bow tapped under. He pulled a quiver out of the railing, slinging it across his back. "I only hoped to use this on a deer or if a bear attacked. Just my luck."

"It is neither a bear nor deer, Clint." She murmured, shooing the dog inside. Cooper was at the door, so she passed his baby brother to him, telling him to go upstairs and to take Lila and Laura with him. Cooper did as told.

Clint cursed, notching an arrow. "Why am I the one who always ends up with the short stick?"

"If you have short stick," Wanda asked, mirth evident in voice despite the timing, "then what do I have?"

"Weird powers." He replied, not at all surprised when she used said weird powers to make a ball and throw it, illuminating the area ahead.

The water soaked them immediately when they stepped outside, and not for the first time Wanda wished she had shorter hair, or liked having it up in a ponytail. Sadly, she did not. Nor would she ever. Because fighting in long hair made her feel powerful.

"Hawkeye," Wanda hummed as they moved, "I think you may be right."

"W–Wanda?" A soft voice croaked. The Scarlet Witch raised a hand, Hawkeye pointing his bow in the direction of the voice. "Old man?"

Her red magic lit up the face of the trespasser. Clint nearly dropped his bow and Wanda almost fainted. A pale face, with dark scruff around the jaw and neck, a head of white hair with dark roots, stared up at them. He was dressed in a pair of hospital sweats and tee, looking sickly and far too famished. His smile was weak but just as cheeky as remembered.

Pietro Maximoff looked up at them through tired blue eyes, completely alive.

* * *

Maria wasn't one to get angry often, and when she did, Maria tended to take it out at the shooting range, imagining the asshole who pissed her off. Today, it actually happened to be Coulson, of all people.

It wasn't his nice-ness, or the fact he, of all people, still kept secrets (was what Fury did not a good enough example?), or how he refused to ever give up on someone. No, of course not. It was the fact his stupid ass just went and got caught in the crossfire helping Barnes and Wilson.

Her gun jammed and she flicked on the safety. "Son of a–"

"Miss Hill," Wanda called for her from the doorway, eyes dark and lips pressed flat. Maria turned to the young woman, raising an eyebrow even though she'd much rather grab a different gun and continue shooting out her anger. "May I speak with you?"

"Yes, just one moment." Maria replied, moving to put the gun away and turn off the light of the firing range. She'd deal with the paper person later if she felt up to it.

"Good." Wanda replied, leading her out. They were heading out the building.

"Thought you and Agent Barton weren't gonna be back for another week?"

"Something came up that had to be dealt with. He did not want anyone to know, but I talked him into letting me ask you. If Jane or Betty was here…" The mutant's words trailed, clearly troubled.

"You would have asked them instead."

"Ah… yes."

Maria understood perfectly, especially when she saw the supposed to be dead speedster passed out on Wanda's couch. Usually, the agent didn't stare, and certainly not at someone who didn't do something stupid (like Coulson), but could you blame her?

Slowly, she turn to Wanda, who was joined by Clint. He was tensed, ready to attack or run. He was also pissed, eyes a blazing blue fire of furious archer and former carney. She couldn't blame him.

"What the hell happened?"

A weak voice answered from the couch, "Coulson, Fury." Pietro coughed. "Dr. Cho tried to save me. And she did, but they made it look like I died."

If possible, Maria's mood just plummeted. "Well, that can't stand." She looked to Clint. "Dr. Cho deserves to know, Barton."

"I know." He replied. "She might tell others though."

"They do deserve to know." Wanda replied. "At least those who have accepted me."

Clint hesitated. Maria saw it, even if Wanda or Pietro did not. He nodded, and Maria left to find Dr. Cho.

* * *

Sometimes, Sharon realized, it wasn't people who simply wanted to watch the world burn, but instead the world who wanted to watch people burn.

Watching the world blaze on the news, a cup of coffee in hand, she watched as Bucky (for he will never be Captain America), Falcon, and Thor (Jane had found Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and she happened to be worthy) tried to put out the buildings fire. Thor was doing a good job helping put out the fire, as was Falcon and Bucky getting out people.

A few days later, Sharon said good morning to Jane, Darcy, and Sif who were training with Natasha (Darcy was complaining the whole way through), as she was leaving the shower room. The four were getting ready to relax, cooling down in their exercise. Darcy was already grabbing a bottle of water, as was Jane who only felt Asgardian strong when using Mjolnir. Sharon even smiled at Darcy who waved erratically and happily, already starting to show the muscles she was gaining as she honed her Sight and use of the sword.

No sooner had she stepped from the training rooms did the alarm for the Avengers to assemble go off. Natasha and Jane when running past her a few moments later, both sweaty with exertion but ready. Sharon stopped walking to watch them go, a little envious and wishing to join them. She wasn't all that great on Avengers field work, though.

Darcy and Sif joined her at lunch time, Wanda and Betty as well. It was Chinese Sunday in the cafeteria, the day when everyone piled in to feed their addoction. Sharon thought it funny. Natasha thought it bad luck.

A spoonful of egg drop soup was halfway to her mouth when the facility blew up. Not the entire facility, just the west wing and portions of the north face. The entire foundation shook, spilling the soup down Sharon's shirt. Darcy's water bottle tipped over, staining the front of her shirt and jeans, getting a curse out of her.

Natasha was already in attack mode, pushing Betty down under the table. Wanda took defense with Sif when the firing began. Darcy followed Betty under the table, flipping the table up to create a blockade. For a moment, Darcy looked heartbroken to throw her chow mien to the floor, which almost made Sharon laugh if it wasn't for the Hydra agents.

"Thor, get Dr. Ross and Miss Lewis out of here!" She ordered, hitting a Hydra agent in the shoulder, thigh, and stomach.

Jane nodded, summoning Mjolnir to her side. When the hammer made contact with her hand, her silver and red armor appeared, just in time to slam two in the face and elbow another in the gut. Darcy swept the feet out from another and Betty bashed them in the head with the metal food tray.

The smaller woman grabbed Darcy up, Betty following with more trays. She handed two of her four to Darcy, using them as shields and weapons.

Sharon will forever remember it as the day Falcon died.

* * *

The minute the flames reached the tree line, black smoke coming in billowing curtains, Helen knew nothing would be the same. As the car moved down the road, going well over seventy, she looked back with Betty and Sharon at the life they were losing.

Natasha had the wheel, Darcy in the passenger, eyes golden as her Sight kept track of the enemy. Wanda was in the middle section with Jane and Pietro. Clint was stuffed into the very back, ready to fire on anyone who followed. Vision flew beside them, able to easily keep up.

Hydra had attacked the Avengers base, ripping up the one safe haven everyone had. Typically, Helen never really felt the urge to cry, but when she watched everything she'd worked her entire life for suddenly go up in flames, she was allowed to.

Betty wrapped an arm around Helen's shoulder, pressed the already bloodstained rag to the older doctor's arm wound, and murmured quietly, "They will pay. Don't worry."

Never in her life had words made Helen feel so elated. Never.

* * *

_Barnes has been taken._

Betty laid on the cot, staring at Helen's back.

Those were words she'd never expected to hear. But they had come from Wanda's mouth only five hours ago, when they first went underground.

_Barnes has been taken. His com link is down, and his mind is shut off. Hydra has caught him._

Betty swallowed lightly, trying to breath past the lump in her throat. She had promised her love to Bruce, always felt she'd love him. And yet, things had changed. He had moved on with his life, letting her go, and eventually, Betty supposed, she had too. Betty hadn't realized it until she'd gotten to know James, gotten to realize her life felt on hold waiting for Bruce to come back when he never was.

She let Bruce go, and, while not quite in love with James, she ended up really enjoying him and his company, maybe even loving it. He was less a hero and more a person in her eyes, less torn apart then sewn together warrior but sad man out of time. Betty liked him, James liked her.

 _It just wasn't meant to be_ , Betty told herself when the broken record of Wanda's voice finally faded near dawn. When her mind took back control from her heart.

Betty got up, heading into the shower. She could hear Darcy grumbling about lack of edible provisions down the hall, which made the scientist smile. Vision was likely with her, watching in honest fascination, Wanda and Pietro too, the three inseparable. Clint had gone to check on his family (Betty was in the know).

As she showered, cleaning off the grim and blood from the day previous, Betty began to plan. They needed a safe haven, one away from villains and heroes and people they couldn't trust. A place that not just anyone could come to. A place each and everyone in this safe house had screened before stepping foot in the vicinity of safety.

Betty thought an island would be a good place. James would have agreed.

* * *

Natasha stepped outside the underground home and base, looking over the field of flowers and trees and waving grass. Jane had recommended the island, Sif and Pepper agreeing once they saw it. It was where Thor had fallen ten years back during the Chitauri invasion.

The redhead let out a long breath. Ten years was a long time to have been an Avenger and still be alive. A long time to have lived past your expiration date.

"Sam would have been thirty-eight." She said to the air, thinking about the man she'd called friend. Two years since he'd died and Bucky had been taken, two since the Avengers had disbanded in flames. One since all the women who'd never gotten a voice had made one, a group cry going up as one.

The sound of shoes in grass came up behind her. A familiar hand laid on her shoulder, gentle. Natasha looked back at Melinda, who's face was blank by eyes cool and understanding. They nodded, and headed back inside.

There were new recruits, women and girls with brilliant minds, skills, and abilities to train, to teach.

* * *

_"Pepper, let go!"_

_"Stop it. You're talking crazy."_

_"Pep, my time is over. I've run my course."_

_"Shut up! I still– We still need you."_

_"No, you don't. I've been holding you back."_

_"T–"_

_"Goodbye, Pep."_

_"To_ ny!"

Pepper shot up in bed, falling out of bed. Her forehead smacked the ground with a quiet curse. Sitting up made her aware of all the nots and cricks in her neck, shoulders, back, and arms. She popped half of them with a stretch, the rest needing good yoga and hands.

The strawberry redhead huffed, getting up. The cool stone of the base and home chilled her feet and the stabilized Extremis coursing in her veins, but it did nothing to cool off the memory burned into her like a branding.

"I really need to see someone about this." She mumbled, coming into the hallway, heading for the kitchen for coffee and a cream cheese slathered bagel. Skye was already in there, nursing a cup of tea alongside FitzSimmons.

"Morning, Ginia!" Kate called from the connected living room, a large mug of coffee set on the coffee table as she cleaned her bow.

Pepper had stopped going by Pepper after Tony fell, now most everyone called her Virginia, some variation of it, or a nickname that wasn't Pep. Strawberry and Ginia were starting to gain popularity.

"Morning, Kate."

Clint walked by, ruffling the younger archer's hair. She whined, fixing her hair before going back to her bow. He took the pot after Pepper poured herself a mug, her adding one sugar and six cream, and she glared as he gulped down the pot.

Jemma wrinkled her nose in disgust while Darcy came running in, trying to snatch the pot back.

"Gross! You're getting germs all over it!" She shouted, jumping to reach it from where he was holding it out of reach. "Stop it, Hawkass!"

"Never." He cheeked, before the pot was suddenly on the counter, Pietro holding it down as he wiped the saliva off with a paper towel. Clint glared at him, watching at the speedster poured a cup, passing it to Darcy who thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. "Asshole."

Pietro shrugged and was gone. Taking the pot with him.

Sharon's shout to put the pot back or she'd hit him with the shield was heard from down the hallway.

Pepper cracked a small smile, then laughed. Everyone stilled, looking at the quiet leader in shock.

"Strawberry, you okay?" Darcy asked softly, though there was mirthful glee in her bright eyes.

"J-just fine," Pepper chuckled, thinking of all the craziness that came with being a leader of their unnamed group and allies.

* * *

When Coulson was killed, she hadn't expected it. She hadn't expected to meet with a calm redhead that Melinda knew on a personal level. The redhead was joined by a vaguely familiar brunette dressed in black and red who looked over Skye in a type of scrutiny that made her skin crawl, though she couldn't place where.

"She is not bad." The woman said in a thick accent. "I wouldn't call her good, either. But she is like me. Open to change, open to good."

Skye almost bristled, but she couldn't say the woman was wrong when she looked the redhead in the face, saying with surety. "Bring her."

At the time Skye had no clue what that meant, and she had been overly reluctant, and miffed she couldn't reach any electronic devices for almost two months to find out where they were going. It felt like they were going in circles, too. Crisscrossing the country and going to Canada, Mexico, then South America, all just to go back to America before docking a small, random boat. They were out to sea for a day before they came ashore to a large, nearly flat island covered in trees, bushes, and tall grass sprinkled flowers.

"Welcome to Canary Bay," Natasha had said as Wanda walked ahead, using her magic to summon a doorway from the ground.

Leo and Jemma had gapped and began to ask questions about the place once inside, spellbound by the inner workings. Wanda had a small smile as she showed them to the labs, much to their delight, leaving Skye with Natasha.

Natasha had explained what the place was: a haven for gifted women and those they could trust. Skye asked if that included men. Natasha nodded, stating Wanda had to meet them first and clear them. Hawkeye and Quicksilver were apart of the haven, helping train other women and sometimes going out with Natasha and Wanda.

Skye was given her own room and taken out to buy new clothes. She ended up hanging mostly around the ex-Intern Darcy Lewis, who not only taught things about hacking she'd never known but also had maybe the greatest meatloaf ever. Skye didn't even like meatloaf.

A year later and the brunette couldn't think of being anywhere else, talking over the com link to Sharon, Gwen, and Kate as they battled Dr. Doom in what remained of war-torn Slovakia (the group of gifted ladies had tried to help them, but the country had refused).

All in all, Skye would probably never get over seeing Philip Coulson die right in front of her at the hands of Ward, a man she told herself not to trust, but it didn't mean she couldn't let it be the fuel to do and be better.

* * *

Jemma screamed, ducking under the workbench. Melinda fired off two shots, taking down one of the many the Hydra agents, before ducking back down. The scientist let out another cry as a boom rocked the facility, and not for the first time was she glad Leo hadn't come with her to steal the files and formulas from the assholes who had killed Coulson and Captain America.

"Simmons," Melinda called, voice level, and the use of Jemma's surname caught her attention like a moth with flames, "you see that panel by the wall?"

Jemma did, she said as much.

"You need to get into it and shut off the lights. They won't fire in the dark if it means hitting their own." Melinda went on, pressing the com with her free hand. "Skye, we're gonna need backup. Call in Jean or Thor for us."

The hacker's voice crackled over, a near balm to Jemma's nerves. " _On it. And Jemma?_ " She made a sound. " _You can do it. Mel wouldn't have asked you if she didn't._ "

Jemma nodded once before remembering her friend wasn't there. "Yes. Thank you." Melinda told her to go, and for a moment, a heart pounding split second, Jemma felt like Pietro as she ran and ripped open the panel, slamming the keyboard she hadn't realized she was holding into the wires.

The room went dark. There was a pain in Jemma's knee, but at the moment she was too fucking happy when a thunder crack went off in the distance.

"Make these bastards pay." Jemma growled, eyes wet at the mentally unregistered pain.

Who was she to not help?

* * *

In all her years as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and one almost retired, she never thought about going back in the field once she was done. And yet, when Natasha came to her with Scarlet Witch at her side, asking if she wanted to become apart of a team where everyone could help and really have a voice, and then the Scarlet Witch showed her, the woman hadn't hesitated to agree. She asked if what remained of the team could come, and Natasha had said yes, long as Wanda– the warmth at the very edge of her tone on the name said she was in their boat– checked them mentally.

After some hesitation, she allowed it. At the time, she had still been unsure of Skye. After a year, she felt better, she knew Skye and who she was better. Melinda could trust everyone at Canary Bay, this ragtag group– because it was more group than team– full of fierce and gentle and vulnerable women and their friends.

Sif clapped Melinda on the shoulder after a long training session, grinning wide but eyes sad. "Your fighting is amazing! You must teach me more later."

Melinda gave a semblance of a smile. "Sure."

* * *

"Mom, where are we going?" Cooper, age fifteen, asked Laura the sixth time that day.

"You'll know when we get there." Laura replied, rocking Nathaniel as he slept beside her. He was five now. The cool night air had easily put the light haired boy to bed.

"Mom," Lila voiced quietly, watching the woman– she said her name was Gwen, and her clothes seemed a little bulky and bright for being named Gwen– pilot the boat. Laura made a sound of notice, eyes moving to her daughter. "Why are we coming out here?"

Laura hesitated a moment, then said, quietly, "The world isn't safe anymore, Lila."

Cooper latched onto that like a drowning man did a plank of wood. "Is that where we're goin'? Somewhere safe?"

Laura nodded, watching the vast, midnight skyline. "Yes."

"We'll be at the Bay by morning," Gwen told her when a half hour had past. "I put the boat on autopilot, but I'll be staying up. You guys go on down."

"Alright." Laura agreed, picking up Nathaniel and heading down. Cooper followed obediently, but Lila stayed back, still sitting where she'd placed herself. Laura turned around when she realized this, tired confusion across her face. "Lila?"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Barton, I've got her." Gwen replied with a soft, reassuring smile.

Like all careful and loving mothers, she hesitated. Also like all careful and loving mothers, she nodded, knowing her only daughter and middle, most innocent minded child was in safe hands. So went down below with Cooper and Nathaniel, tucking the boys into bed before curling on the small cot beside them, for all the world ready to die defending them.

Gwen sat next to Lila, who seemed suddenly transfixed on the rippling water ahead. "You want to know what's going on." A few minutes went by. "I can tell you, but your mom won't be happy." Another few. "Would you like me to tell you what's going on?"

"Yes."

Big brown eyes looked up at Gwen, curious and trusting, the kind of eyes Gwen had as little girl of eleven. Gwen refused to lie to Lila as many had to her, and so she told Lila from start to finish, beginning as far back as she knew with when the Asgardians first came to Earth seeking to hide the Tesseract from the Frost Giants up to when Hydra had finally 'won' and gotten ahold of the world. She explained how Lila, her brothers, and mother were all coming to live where her team and family lived so they could be protected.

Lila listened quietly, her eyes never changing, though she did let out a few tears when Gwen told her about Thor, Steve, Sam, Tony, and Coulson dying. Gwen stopped talking to let Lila take in the information of Bucky being taken by Hydra and now their enemy again, one they had to fight even when they knew it wasn't his own doing. Lila processed and asked Gwen to go on.

"Your dad doesn't want you caught up in any of this, so he asked you be brought in with us, to Canary Bay. We don't let anyone in that hasn't had Wanda or Jean in their minds, and our systems are fully functional thanks to our friend Vision." Gwen finished. "You will be safe."

Lila was silent for some time, watching the sky lighten. How the dark haired girl hadn't yawned or showed how tired she was yet confused the arachnid mutant young woman, but she supposed it came with learning things this life changing.

Her small, warm hand took Gwen's as the sun peeked over the water and lit up the flat land in the distance. "Gwen, can you teach me things Dad wouldn't teach me? Like how to fight and protect my friends and family?"

Gwen's breath froze, thinking she'd just done the worst thing possible after the words, "Of course," slipped out.

She never regretted her decision though when, not five years later, it was Lila herself who finished dismantling Hydra a year after they had brainwashed her mother and killed her father.

END

**Author's Note:**

> • The current list of Ladies: Darcy Lewis; Jane Foster; Natasha Romanova; Pepper Potts; Wanda Maximoff; Sharon Carter; Betty Ross; Helen Cho; Maria Hill; Skye; Melinda May; Jemma Simmons; Gwen Stacey; Claire Temple; Kate Bishop; Karen Page; Jean Gray; Lila Barton and various others I've forgotten to mention.  
>   
> • Each section is from a different woman's point of view.  
> • No, I'm not sorry for everyone I killed off.  
> • Yes, I hinted at Betty/Bucky, Pietro/Darcy, and a half-million other pairings.  
> • I originally had a huge plan for this, but it kinda got shorter as time went. I ended up taking out Claire's part, but Daredevil is in here. So are the X-Men films, Spider-Gwen, and maybe five other Marvel comics, including Kate Bishop, our resident female Hawkeye.  
> • In recent canon, Jane became Thor. And I mean Thor, there is no Lady or She- in there. Deal with it. And Darcy is the new Heimdall.  
> • I love Sharon and the Barton family, I just don't want Sharon as Steve's love interest (kinda gross to think of Peggy's niece getting it on with her ex-boyfriend) and I wished the Barton family had been brought in differently.  
> • I planned for this to end on a cliffhanger with Lila running into Clint's arms, but shit happened and I wanted her to be a boss.  
> • Vision is a them/them/etc. I intentionally wanted it gender neutral because while JARVIS was modeled after the actual thing and was male inclined, I think it would be more genderless and not care for gender roles. It it literally above an AI's understanding. I could go further into this, but my explanation would be longer than the fic.  
> • If you want to know how Tony died, there was an explosion in his lab, and Pepper had him on the ropes. It was kinda Bucky and Steve, only Tony did it on purpose. Steve's death, followed by all the others, made his PTSD and depression worse, to the point of being really suicidal. And nope, he didn't regret half-way down.  
> • Yes, I enjoy fucking up everyone. Go read Rise of the Brave, Tangled Dragon Riders if you don't believe me.  
> 


End file.
